Decision : 29 COM 7B.52
Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodhgaya (India)

3. Congratulates the State Party of India for the extensive efforts involved in putting together documents for the management plan of the property and organizing the joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS mission of April 2005;

4. Requests the State Party to:

a) adopt the provisions of the Site Management Plan of April 2005 within the Bodhgaya Development Plan being prepared by the Bihar State Government, including those that touch the extent of, and controls within the Bodhgaya buffer zone and periphery zone;

b) explore an appropriate management mechanism for the property to protect its outstanding universal value as well as the values of the adjacent buffer and periphery zones;

c) address the weaknesses identified by the joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS Mission of April 2005 in the present Management Plan document (April, 2005), particularly those related to description of the property's outstanding universal value;

d) establish appropriate forms of support, control and involvement at both national and state levels to put in place the management mechanism described in b) above; and

e) prepare a detailed property documentation of existing conditions within buffer and periphery zones, as a basis for future monitoring.

5. Encourages the State Party to explore the appropriateness of a long term extension of the Mahabodhi Temple Complex inscription to include the cultural landscape identified with the wanderings and enlightenment of the Lord Buddha in this region, and possibly to include other properties associated with the life of the Buddha in India, for example, Sarnath (currently on the Indian national tentative list);

6. Invites the State Party to give further consideration to the possible designation of the property under national legislation in order to ensure protection of its outstanding universal value as well as its authenticity and integrity;

7. Requests the State Party to submit a report to the World Heritage Centre, by 1February 2006, on the progress made in the implementation of the above recommendations, for examination by the Committee at its 30th session (Vilnius, 2006).